The present invention relates to a cast housing for a sealed bearing and particularly to means formed in the housing that surrounds the bearing for temperature protection.
Federal Republic of Germany Pat. No. 3,333,506 discloses a method of manufacturing a housing with a built-in anti-friction bearing in which a completely assembled, greased and sealed anti-friction bearing is inserted into a die casting mold, the die casting mold is closed, liquid non-ferrous metal which has been heated to about 750.degree. C. is poured into the die casting mold under pressure, the mold is then opened after at most 15 seconds, and the housing with the included anti-friction bearing is ejected from the mold and immediately cooled.
This known method has proven its worth in practice. It is used, for instance, in automobile water pumps. For certain uses, however, special sealing materials, lubricating grease compositions or anti-friction bearings with specially heat treated rings are necessary because the heating occurred upon the pouring in of the liquid die casting material having, for example, a temperature of 750.degree. C., can lead to damage. For instance, the seals can be overheated, the consistency of the lubricating grease can be changed, or the hardness of the bearing race can be reduced. Even with expensive cooling devices located within the die casting molds, damage cannot always be excluded in the case of such special applications.